Weekend recap + trip details

So, many of you may know that I organized a 50th birthday party for my mom this past Friday night. It started off with a lovely family dinner at my aunt's house, complete with photos of my mom (when she was a youngster/awkward teen up to her marriage photos). She loved the decorations and theme of the party - it was "country in the city"...

After that we headed down to the Saddlerack bar - for those who may not know of the notorious Saddlerack, it's a country bar/club in this weird warehouse area in Fremont. My parents used to frequent it in the late 70's when it was located in San Jose. At any rate, there were about 20 of us there, honky-tonkin' it up! I caught my mom on multiple occasions on the line-dancing floor, trying to keep up with the cowboys that were strutting their stuff. It was an AWESOME night.

For her birthday present, I got us tickets to see Carrie Underwood on Saturday night (a little selfish, I know, since I wanted to see her as well!) It was a great girls night out - we got dressed up and took BART to the Oakland Arena. We had incredible seats, I was so excited! (I had bought the tickets in August, so I didn't remember where we were sitting). Anyway, Carrie put on an incredible show. I mean, really, that girl can sing! I didn't know what to expect, since sometimes seeing people live is disappointing. Her show was the exact opposite - upbeat, fun, loud, and she's a very humble person. All of those people that rag on her should really recognize how great of a singer she is, no matter how she got there, or what kind of music she sings.

So now, I'm packing up and heading to San Antonio tomorrow for NWP's Annual Meeting. It's going to be an exhausting 6 days of work work work! I'm hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the Alamo, and hopefully see the world's largest cowboy boots (pictures above). I'm also crafting like NOBODY'S business, trying to get gifts ready for the upcoming holiday season! The next month and a half are going to go by soooo fast!